Now that my granddad's truck should very soon regain its status as tow vehicle for my granddad's homemade boat, it surfaced an aesthetic problem. I'll have a great looking truck & boat from the 1950s and a 2008 Yamaha on the back. Ouch! Well here's the original outboard.




1958 was a first model year for the 50 HP v4 Johnson and it was always a problematic motor. It was known for eating rotor buttons and leaving you to change them at unplanned times. It also was a gas guzzler and oil disperser to the point of making oil slicks on the water.

So in 2008, I hung a 60 HP 4 stroke Yamaha and have never regretted it. It performs flawlessly, is quieter, smells much less and did I mention: starts every single time. The only problem was the look: out of place.



So I hatched a plan to retrofit the original cowling onto the Yamaha. Yes, this is like hanging F1 sheet metal on a Chebby but maybe worse. On the upside, I fixed the eye soar. I asked a metal working friend and he didn't want to mess with it. So I found a fiberglass fab shop and he took the project. Here's the first pass of work:




Then realized we need to fair in the transition as it was too stark of a step when viewed from the back. Can see it on the right side:



Once glassed and smoothed, primer goes on:




Then paint the rest to match:



And back on the boat:




With this design, we're using the same Yamaha hardware, so I can swap cowling if I ever need to. Yes working on the truck gave me an excuse to upgrade the outboard (isn't that how it's supposed to be?).

Now it's ready to be pulled by this boy:




For the Northern CA folks, the shop and all credit goes to Lera Glass.

 

Awesome job. The boat looks great with the new_ old look! And the truck too,

 

That is so cool! Be sure to show us pics of your truck pulling that vintage boat.

 

That looks great. They did very good work. Do you have to worry about any air intakes if there are any on an outboard?

 

Nice work. Gotta see a shot of those two vehicles hooked together now!

 

That is effin AWESOME !!!! Just plain a great idea & job . Congrats .

 

Rep worthy work..

 

Impressive! The Johnson cover really will set the boat apart. Great work.

 

Inspired work, John..



Ironically, a source for authentic Evinrude/Johnson outboard paint is an outfit called Effena. Used them for a project a few years ago.

 

Thanks everyone for the kind words. Only on this forum will everyone totally understand why I'd make a side project like this happen!

As these things go, it does make me start to think the recent trailer doesn't really match, but I'm not ready to tackle that.

To answer the intake question: there's a handle on the top, rear of the old cowl for tilting the motor (no power trim in '58). We took that off and put the hole saw into it for 2 one inch holes. The handle conceals them and guards against spray. That was my guesstimate as to how much air the OEM cowling was letting in.

 

Very nice! I saw a boat that could have been a twin to yours recently. It had a Kiekhaefer Mercury that was period correct (early '50's), lots of chrome and almost Art Deco-looking. They sure don't make them like that any more!

 

Rep points to you for that!!!
Love the idea to disguise a modern reliable engine that way.
As for the trailer....there was a company called TeeNee that made many boat trailers in the 40's and 50's. You can alter that one you have with some interesting lacquer paint color and round shaped metal vintage style fenders and stash the plastic Ez-Loader ones. Put some baby moons on the wheels maybe.

Here are some decals:
VINTAGE 1950'S TEE NEE BOAT TRAILER DECALS (4 PC.SET) WITH FREE OBC DECAL NICE


That boat is very cool now and I've subscribed to see the pictures of it hooked up to the truck.
Again, great job - love it.
Tom

 

Great Idea and Great Job! Had to be done.

 

thanks Tom, I don't know if you just put a seed in my brain or a monkey on my back!
now im going to be thinking about painting over galvanized steel and removing plastic fenders!

the season is winding down so I have all winter.

 

Very very cool!! Looks great!!